Some men are born responsible, some men have responsibility thrust upon them. Henry John Edgar Thomas Pembrook, Prince of Wessco, just got the motherlode of all responsibility dumped in his regal lap.

He’s not handling it well.

Hoping to force her grandson to rise to the occasion, Queen Lenora goes on a much-needed safari holiday—and when the Queen’s away, the Prince will play. After a chance meeting with an American television producer, Henry finally makes a decision all on his own:

Welcome to Matched: Royal Edition.

A reality TV dating game show featuring twenty of the world's most beautiful blue bloods gathered in the same castle. Only one will win the diamond tiara, only one will capture the handsome prince’s heart.

While Henry revels in the sexy, raunchy antics of the contestants as they fight, literally, for his affection, it’s the quiet, bespectacled girl in the corner—with the voice of an angel and a body that would tempt a saint—who catches his eye.

The more Henry gets to know Sarah Mirabelle Zinnia Von Titebottum, the more enamored he becomes of her simple beauty, her strength, her kind spirit... and her naughty sense of humor.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day—and irresponsible royals aren’t reformed overnight.

As he endeavors to right his wrongs, old words take on whole new meanings for the dashing Prince. Words like, Duty, Honor and most of all—Love.

My Review:

4.5 stars — Oh yes, this was exactly what I was looking for and needing. I actually think I liked it even better than Nicholas and Olivia’s story, and I LOVED that one!! Who knew it could just get better and better? GAH!!! I love it when I love stuff. I especially love it when a series just gets better and better!

This one was all about the characters for me. OMG, I can’t even. I mean, I knew I was going to love Henry, but it’s always nice when you love them even more. And I was so intrigued by Sarah, and she was just everything and a bag of chips.

Henry was adorable, hilarious, vulnerable, sensitive, sassy, more than I expected, and he made me cry. That’s seriously all it boils down to. He made me laugh so much with his antics and the way he would tease Sarah and his abundance of sexual innuendos. But at the same time he broke my heart…seeing how much these new responsibilities weighed on him, reading about his crippling fear of failure (and OMG can I vibe with that)…I don’t know, that was the Henry that got me. Deep down he wanted to do and be great, but he wasn’t used to the expectations suddenly thrust upon him and actually felt like everyone had the opposite expectations of him. And OMG, such a sensitive soul…I am a sucker for that kind of man.

Sarah was just, like, his perfect counterpart. She was strong, sassy, opinionated, didn’t take crap, but at the same time shy, quiet, and a bit of innocence mixed in. Honest to goodness, I loved her, she was my kind of heroine. She had such a harsh past, one that I honestly wasn’t expecting, and I felt for her so much. The fugue state affliction was interesting, but I liked that it didn’t make up all that she was, and was just something that she dealt with. I also loved that while she was a virgin, she wasn’t naive. She wasn’t that stereotypical virgin, you know? It was more lack of opportunity combined with her shyness/anxiety than anything else.

And the two of the together were just relationship gold. I LOVED seeing them form their bond…it made it so much more believable, b/c we got to see them start at flirting and then develop that base of friendship. I could FEEL the chemistry between them, it was palpable. I loved how much faith Sarah had in Henry, how she saw all that he could be, and all the facets that many people overlooked in him. I loved that Henry saw everything that made Sarah stand apart from other women. I loved that it wasn’t perfect, and they had their struggles and misunderstandings, but they eventually made it work together.

I was surprised at how little there was of the reality show…it really didn’t play that big of a part. And it wasn’t what I was expecting either, especially given the blurb…it wasn’t quite as catty, and I never really hated any of the women…I actually liked quite a few of them. There were antics, but it was really a very background subplot. I didn’t mind though, b/c that just gave us more Henry and Sarah time, though I suppose occasionally I did wonder about the believability of some of the stunts Henry pulled.

The ending veered off in a different direction than I was expecting, and at first I was unsure how I felt. But in the end I liked it. It was kind of like an extended epilogue in some ways. It showed them both growing even more on their own before they came together completely. I liked that…it lended more believability to their romance too.

So yeah, total hit for me. I both can’t wait to read more, and want to drag it out because it’s that good.